More Than Just Gold

"It's not gold, Nutsy! It's not even a shiny button!" Lily declared, her voice a little too loud for the quiet attic. She held the locket up, its brassy surface dull with what looked like a century of dust bunnies. The latest whisper from the locket had been… well, less about pirates and buried chests, and more about… feelings. And cake. Definitely cake.

Nutsy, perched precariously on a stack of old hatboxes, flicked his tail indignantly. "Nonsense! All good treasures sparkle, girl. And all good treasures involve burying. It's the law of the squirrel." He punctuated this with a sharp chirp, as if expecting a standing ovation from the cobwebs.

Lily sighed, a puff of dust rising around her. "But the whisper said, 'Where laughter bloomed and kindness grew, a memory waits, for me and you.' And then it sort of… hummed about Mrs. Higgins' prize-winning petunias."